Meetings
The Annual Parish Council Meeting will be held on Wednesday 8th May 2024 starting at 7.30pm.
The Parish Council usually meets on the third Wednesday of every other month starting in January. Meetings are held in Lyng Village Hall, Richmond Place, Lyng and usually start at 19:30pm (please check the agenda). The Council have agreed to return to bi-monthly meetings. Extraordinary meetings will be held as necessary.
Meetings of the Parish Council are not public meetings but members of the public have a statutory right to attend meetings of the council as observers. Members of the public have no legal right to speak unless the Parish Council Chairman authorises them to do so. As part of its community engagement, Lyng Parish Council sets out a time for public participation at the start of the meeting when members of the public are invited to speak on agenda items.
If you wish a matter to be raised at the Council, please contact one of the Councillors or the Parish Clerk. Although members of the public do not have a right to force items onto the Council agenda, the Council will consider all requests. The Council agenda is prepared about a week before the next council meeting so you will need to inform the Clerk about 10 days prior to the meeting if you wish to have an item included on the agenda. Although this might seem a long time in advance, the council is required by law to publicise its agenda at least three clear days before each meeting. Only business contained within the agenda can be considered at the meeting. Please see Public Participation Policy below.
Recording of meetings
The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 were enacted on 5 August and came into force on 6 August 2014. These allow for the filming and recording of Council meetings (and other specified public bodies) and provide for access to records (e.g. of decisions made by officers). Please see protocol for the recording of meetings as approved on 4th May 2021.
When a recording is available, a link will be published on this page.
Parish Council Meeting 11th May 2022 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgG3E8FI4h4
Parish Council Meeting 8th June 2022 https://youtu.be/DZXnYh2imzs
Parish Council Meeting 20th July 2022 https://youtu.be/av3G_ZdhE1c
Parish Council Meeting 12th October 2022 https://youtu.be/GBMd34SscSA
Parish Council Meeting 9th November 2022 https://youtu.be/dOA8ChL9SEM
Parish Council Meeting 18th January 2023 https://youtu.be/dfE0jYGFafI
Each councillor must make their own judgment about whether or not they must declare a personal or pecuniary and prejudicial interest on each item to be discussed at Council meetings. The Government has produced the following guidance for Councillors;
Declaration of a personal interest at a meeting.
A personal interest occurs where a Councillor or a member of their family or a close associate might benefit from a Council decision to a greater extent than the majority of other people in the Parish and the member should not vote on the matter. Where the interest is not so great as to affect the Councillor's judgment of the public interest, the member should not vote but may speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting.
Declaration of disclosable pecuniary interests in meetings
A person’s pecuniary interests are their business interests (for example their employment, trade, profession, contracts, or any company with which they are associated) and wider financial interests they might have (for example trust funds, investments, and assets including land and property)
A pecuniary interest occurs where a Councillor could gain or lose financially as a result of a Council decision. This could relate to goods and services which might be required by the Council and includes Councillor's partners, spouses, relatives and close associates.
If a Councillor or voting co-opted member has a disclosable pecuniary interest in an item during a formal meeting of the Council, they must:
Declare or draw attention to their interest at the meeting;
Not participate in any discussion of the matter;
Not vote on the matter; and
Leave the room during the discussion or vote.
The declarations made at each meeting are recorded in the minutes of the meeting which are published on our website.
It is a potential criminal offence if a member fails to comply with the rules regarding their disclosable pecuniary interests without reasonable excuse.